Puri sent to judicial custody

Shivraj Puri, the main accused in the R400 crore Citibank fraud, was remanded in judicial custody by a city court for 14 days on Friday.

Admitting the plea of the Gurgaon police, chief judicial magistrate DN Bhardwaj remanded Puri in judicial custody till January 28 and sent him to the district jail.

The Hindustan Times had reported on Friday that the Gurgaon police may not seek another extension of custody for the alleged fraud mastermind.

Meanwhile, Puri, who has been in police custody for the last 15 days since his arrest, looked relieved as he left the courtroom.

He, however, was seen enquiring about the living conditions in the local jail from police officials escorting him.

The Gurgaon district jail is located in Bhondsi village on Sohna-Alwar road, about 12km from the city. Puri would be produced in the same court again on January 28.

Investigating officials, however, have not been able to make much headway in the case. The police have not only failed to recover the Puri's iPad through which he conducted transactions with clients, but have also not been able to find the source of investors' money.

On Saturday, the Gurgaon police would produce another accused in the Citibank scam —Sanjay Gupta, the sacked associate vice-president of Hero Corporate Service Limited — in the court of chief judicial magistrate DN Bhardwaj.

It’s only temporary relief for Puri

For Puri, the next few days in judicial custody might just be a temporary phase of relief.

While the police can legally keep an accused in custody for a maximum period of 15 days, which Puri has already served, the investigating agency has multiple options in its kitty.

He may be called back from the jail if the police seek his further custody for interrogation as two FIRs filed in the scam name the former Citibank employee as the accused.

Cops to grill Citibank officials

Acting on the FIR filed by Sanjeev Aggarwal, managing director of Helion Advisors Private Limited who claimed to have lost R32.43 crore in the Citibank fraud, the Gurgaon police have now trained its guns on bank officials.

Fearing arrest, Citibank officials had recently decided to apply for anticipatory bail but reportedly changed their mind after the court dismissed the bail plea of Shivraj Puri's father, Raghuraj Puri, on Thursday.